Who I Became
by CinderellaAtTheBall
Summary: Ron loved me for who I was. Draco loved me for who I became. DM x HG. Rated T just in case.
1. Nightly Wanderings 1

**CatB: I'm really excited to post this. It's my first Draco/Hermione! And the problem is, I love the summary but I'm not sure it corresponds to the storyline. Drat. Oh well, we'll just have to wait and see. Enjoy! **

**Note: This takes place in their sixth year, I believe, though, as you will soon find out, it doesn't follow the books at all, really.**

**Disclaimer: I love the world of Harry Potter as if I had created it. However, as I did NOT create it, I write fanfiction so that I can borrow the characters and write fun stuff about them-not to make money or anything, mind you-just place them in...interesting situations and whatnot for my own enjoyment. **

Hermione's POV

I would often wake up hungry in the middle of the night. I tried not to give in to this hunger, though-sneaking down to the kitchens after-hours was risky, and Harry and Ron would always tease me mercilessly about the rule breaking that I, a prefect, was committing under everyone's noses. Sometimes, however, I just got so hungry and my stomach wouldn't leave well enough alone, and so I would find myself making a visit to the house elves for some food. Harry and Ron frequently asked why I, a witch, couldn't just wave my wand and summon food for myself. Risky though it was, the whole reason I liked to go down to the kitchens was so that I could see how the house elves were doing, work-wise. I didn't want them working _too_ hard.

One night the pain in my stomach was just about unbearable, so I crept out of my dormitory and down the stairs to the common room, where I gave a cursory glance around. Seeing no one, I pushed the portrait open slowly, knowing that if I did so quickly, the hinges would squeak. Once outside, it was easy enough to dodge the small army of creatures and teachers posted in the hallway, thanks to a good Disillusionment Charm. I made my way to the corridor a couple of doors down that played host to a giant picture of a fruit bowl. Upon tickling the pear, I was granted admission into the magnificent kitchens of Hogwarts. Although I had been there several times, I was again struck by the sheer number of house elves. I hurried up to the nearest one, an elf I thought was called Muffie, and asked if she would be so kind as to give me some leftovers from dinner.

"Right away, Miss!" she squeaked, scurrying off.

"No, no, take your time!" I called after her, but it was no use: Another elf had already appeared at my side, carrying a large tray piled with food. My stomach rumbled and the elf grinned.

"You is hungry, Miss!" he said happily.

"Er, yes. Thank you very much," I said gratefully.

"'Twas no problem, Miss! We hope you enjoy the food," he replied.

Some of the other elves had pushed an elf-sized table to a corner and covered it with a red and white checked tablecloth, as was their custom when I came down to eat. As always, there was a little chair tucked under the table, too. I laughed and sat on top of table, cloth and all, as usual, settling the tray on my lap.

I went for some of the delicious marinated chicken first, tearing pieces off with my teeth and gulping them down after minimal chewing. One of my favorite elves, Marty, tapped my knee and held out a napkin. I thanked him and wiped my fingers.

I next grabbed a cream puff, stuffing the whole thing in my mouth. I was chewing and picturing the horrified looks on Harry and Ron's faces if they could see me, when I heard a slow, drawling voice from the other side of the kitchens:

"Enjoying a midnight snack, are we, Granger?"

I choked and my head whipped to the left, discovering, with a sinking feeling, that the speaker was none other than Draco Malfoy. He was leaning against a bare spot of wall, his arms were crossed, and his wide sneer was aimed right at me.

"Hardly," I retorted. "It's past midnight, Malfoy."

He rolled his eyes at me. "Whatever you say."

I narrowed my own eyes at him. "And what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question," he said smoothly. "You do realize you're breaking, ah, _several_ rules, I believe?"

"Well, I'm not the only one," I pointed out.

"Yes, but I'm not Hermione Granger," he said, smirking.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I snapped.

"I mean," his smirk grew wider, "you _are _a prefect-"

"As are you," I interrupted.

"-the Golden Girl of Gryffindor-"

"I am not," I grumbled childishly.

"And best friend to the great Harry Potter," he finished .

"So?" I glared at him.

He shook his head. "Dear, dear," he said sardonically. "I wonder what everyone would say if they knew about this little secret of yours?"

"You won't tell anyone, will you?" I pleaded, wishing I didn't sound so weak and pathetic.

"They'll be so upset to learn that Hermione Granger is not as innocent as she seems," he continued.

I pulled my wand out of my pocket and pointed it at his nose. "Don't you dare tell anyone, Malfoy," I snarled.

"Oh, and you're violent too? What a shame," he said, looking delighted. "I know _that _will definitely come as a surprise to many."

I wanted to say something like, "I am _not _violent," but what came out instead was a sighed, "Why are you always so mean to me?"

Though his face showed surprise at first, it was quickly pulled back into a sneer. "Oh, I don't know," he said sarcastically, "because I hate you. Surely that's reason enough?"

Though I had been expecting a response to this effect, I still was not able to keep the shock from my eyes. I turned my attention back to the food that I had completely abandoned on my lap, and took a bite of potato. Then another. And another. And pretty soon I was able to forget that I had company, until-

"Honestly, Granger, if you're going to eat that much food, at least do it in a refined manner, will you? You're eating like the filthy Mudblood that you are, and I can't stand it."

I stared at him. First he told me that he hated me, _to my face_, and then he called me a Mudblood! I would not stand for that sort of treatment, not from him.

"Well, then, shut up and go away!" I said angrily. I picked up my tray, hurled it at him, and performed the Full Body Bind on him before pushing open the portrait and running out of the kitchens.

Normally the thought of Malfoy covered in bits of potato, ketchup, cake, and pudding would make me laugh, but I was still too worked up. It wasn't until I was back in my bed that I realized my stomach was still cramping and my head was pounding some of the last words he had said to me:

_Because I hate you._

_Because I hate you._

_Because I hate you._

**CatB: Okay, so I really hope you liked this! I'm sorry I didn't get into what the summary talks about...I'll try to in the next chapter, though.**

**Please, _please _review and let me know what you think so far. I'm drafting a second chapter right now, but I want to know where YOU think the story should go! Thanks!**


	2. Don't Forget Your Reputation

**CatB: Here's chapter two, for all my eager readers! This was a pretty quick update, but it won't usually be this fast, sadly. Thanks to all who reviewed, again!**

**Disclaimer: No, I haven't suddenly become the owner of Harry Potter and all related stuff since the last chapter. So no, I'm not making any money, and I'm still just borrowing characters for fanfiction fun.**

Hermione's POV (I've decided the whole story will be Hermione's POV, but I just wanted to remind you)

When I awoke the next morning, it was to discover I had gotten my period. (A/N: I'm sorry if this makes you uncomfortable, it's really the only reference in the chapter, I promise!) I groaned because it was suddenly clear why my eating binge hadn't done a thing for my stomach.

"Perfect," I muttered.

I shoved the stack of books by my bed into my bag and winced at the weight of it. I dragged myself down to the common room and met Harry and Ron, who looked extremely cheerful. Standing next to them, I felt even worse.

"You two look happy," I commented dully.

"There's a Hogsmeade visit next weekend!" Ron informed me excitedly.

"Oh, Merlin, I'd forgotten about that!" I exclaimed, shifting my bag on uncomfortably. "I don't think we should go, though. We've got plenty of work we need to get done."

They stared at me.

"Hermione, I think we can afford to take the day off," Harry said carefully.

"Yeah, we've got Sunday to do our work," Ron pointed out.

"Exactly," Harry nodded.

I moved my bag to my other shoulder. "Okay, we'll talk about this later," I said, exasperated. "Now can we go down to breakfast? I'm really hungry." I wasn't, actually, but I needed to put my heavy bag down.

Ron had apparently been watching my struggle, because he said, "Hey, Hermione, let me help you with your bag."

"Thank you, Ron." I sighed in relief, handing it over to him.

"That looks heavy," Harry said. "What'd you do, put every one of your schoolbooks in there?"

"Blimey, it sure feels like it," Ron grumbled, hunching with the effort of carrying both my bag and his.

"Never mind, Ron, I'll get it," I said hastily, sorry that I had been so quick to dump my burden on him.

"No!" he panted. "I've got it, really."

I looked at Harry, who shrugged. "He'll be fine," he assured me.

I made a mental note to let Ron carry my stuff the rest of the day, too, since he was clearly very willing to do so.

Though breakfast looked delicious, I didn't feel up to eating. When my friends asked why my plate was empty, I smiled as brightly as I could, a feat more difficult than it may sound, and said I wasn't hungry. Ron kept shooting me concerned looks, however, so I hissed, "Ron! I'm _fine_!" whereupon he stopped immediately, quickly striking up a conversation with Harry about some impending test.

A bell rang, signaling that breakfast was over and it was time for us to hurry to Defense Against the Dark Arts, which we had with the Slytherins. This didn't seem like a good idea to me, seeing as the two Houses hated each other so much. Cramming us into a class where we were studying dangerous spells that we could "accidentally" send at each other was very poor judgment indeed.

We reached the classroom with a few minutes to spare, but that didn't stop Snape from giving us nasty looks.

"Git," I heard Ron say under his breath.

I reached into my bag, which Ron had dumped unceremoniously on the seat next to his, intending to pull out my books.

"Where are they?" I said desperately, scanning the spines again.

"Where's what?" came Harry's voice from Ron's other side.

"I don't have my books," I said quietly.

"Then you are not prepared for my class, Miss Granger." Snape had apparently walked up behind me without my notice.

I turned slowly, hoping my fear wouldn't be apparent.

"And what am I to do about this, sir?" I asked nervously.

"What indeed," he sneered. "You can share with Mister Malfoy."

Malfoy didn't look any happier about this arrangement than I probably did, though I thought I had seen the ghost of a smirk on his face.

"Yes, sir," I said politely, and went to pick up my bag.

Ron stood up. "Professor, is there some reason why she can't share with me or Harry?"

"Yes, Weasley, for reasons far beyond your first-year comprehension," Snape said drily.

"Are you saying I'm thick?" Ron said hotly. His ears were beginning to turn red.

"There are some things that I don't expect you to understand, Weasley," Snape snapped. Then, in a more controlled tone, he said, "Detention, Weasley. I'll see you in my office tomorrow night."

Ron glowered at him, but threw himself back into his chair in a gesture of defeat.

I gave him a pitying smile and lugged my bag over to Malfoy's table as slowly as I could, earning myself a hard glare from our teacher.

"So Hermione Granger finally shows up for class unprepared," Malfoy drawled as soon as I sat down.

"Well, I was in a bit of a hurry this morning!" I whispered back crossly.

"Oh?" There was a smile tugging at his lip. "Well, you _did _have a late night."

"Yes, a late night would lead to a rather disorganized rush in the morning. Aren't you _clever_!" I said, pretending I was talking to a little baby and not a teenage boy.

He cocked his head at me. "Apparently it's made you a little crazy, too."

"I am _not _crazy," I protested feebly.

"While I am sure that you two are finding your conversation much more interesting than my class, I must ask you to follow along in the book," Snape interrupted.

"Sorry, Professor," I said quickly. Malfoy merely grinned at our teacher, who smiled back indulgently before continuing with his lesson.

I turned to Malfoy. "What page are we on?" I whispered.

He shrugged, watching Snape move about the room. "If _you_ don't know, I certainly don't, Granger."

"Well, ask, then!" I told him.

He twisted to look at me so fast I was sure I had heard something crack. "I don't think so, Granger," he said gleefully. "I'm the one who has dirt on _you_, remember? So I guess _you'll_ be asking…unless you'd like me to let something slip?"

"_Fine_!" I hissed. I took a deep breath and raised my hand.

"Is Miss Granger the only one who knows the answer?" Snape asked.

"Actually, Professor," I said as bravely as I could, "I was wondering what page we're on."

Snape raised an eyebrow. "Page 273, _Confronting the Faceless_."

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Harry and Ron and, indeed, the rest of the class, staring at me.

I blushed and looked down at my lap. I had never been caught not paying attention before! In a single class, my reputation was going straight down the drain, something Malfoy seemed to take great pleasure in. I thought this was perhaps because it was all his doing. I was careful to ignore him the rest of the lesson. Instead of responding to his snide comments I was following along in the book, like I was supposed to. Like I always had.

**CatB: Well, I feel like this chapter definitely lives up to the summary a bit more, so, yay! **

**Please review! Reviews always make my day, no matter how short they are! =) **


	3. Confrontations with Ron

**CatB: So here's Chapter 3! I'll get to my thoughts about it at the end. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Harry Potter. Still not making any money. **

Ron chose to confront me about my odd behavior at lunch.

"Hermione," he began cautiously, "you weren't exactly, uh, yourself in Defense today."

I wanted to hit him, but forced myself to stay calm. "Not myself?" I asked innocently. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well," he glanced at Harry, "first of all, you forgot your books, which isn't like you at all. Then you had to ask what page we were on, which I'm pretty sure has never happened before," he explained.

"Plus you somehow managed to become distracted while talking to _Malfoy_," Harry added.

"Well, there's a first time for everything, guys," I said lightly.

"I realize that, Hermione," Ron said through clenched teeth, "but keep this up and you'll be a complete stranger to us." He indicated himself and Harry.

"You know, Ronald, I'm really sorry you and Harry have a problem with this," I said coldly, "but part of growing up is changing your ways. Maybe I don't want to be the good little girl everyone perceives me as any more." It was a rotten way to end a conversation, and I didn't even mean what I was saying, but I didn't want to listen to Ron harp on about how I was acting differently when the blame lay with Malfoy. I stood up and moved down to the other end of the Gryffindor table, where Ginny was sitting.

"Hello, Ginny," I said, taking a seat next to her. "I hope you'll be better company than your brother."

She rolled her eyes. "What's Ron done this time?"

I looked over at him and sighed. "He thinks I was acting oddly in Defense Against the Dark Arts this morning. Harry does too, actually. Anyway, I told them that people change when they grow up."

"Well, good for you!" Ginny said enthusiastically. She lowered her voice. "I know I should stick by Ron, since he's my brother, but honestly, if you didn't tell him these sorts of things he'd never learn them."

We both giggled.

"You're right," I told her. "Where would Ron be without me?"

Ginny stopped laughing. "Trust me, I don't think you _want _to know," she said in a low voice.

"Oh, okay." I was confused as to why the conversation had come to a stop, but I didn't let on about it. Instead, I turned to my plate at last and began serving myself. I still didn't feel like eating much, though, so all I took was a chocolate croissant. I could tell Ginny noticed my lack of an appetite because she looked at my plate strangely, but thankfully said nothing. I began to think that maybe I should hang out with her more often.

I began to eat my croissant, which had a nice, flaky consistency and _lots _chocolate. I nibbled away at it happily, pushing my rough morning to the back of my mind.

Ginny nudged me. "If you still don't feel like talking to my brother," she whispered, "you'd better get out of here."

I turned to see what she was nodding at. Ron was marching toward us, Harry at his side, his face bright red and very determined. It was clear, at the very least, that this would not end up being a friendly little chat.

"Yeah, that's my cue to leave," I muttered to Ginny. I grabbed the rest of my croissant and fled.

I hurried to Ancient Runes, arriving long before the bell rang to end lunch, but I didn't care. I was relieved that Harry and Ron had not opted to take the class with me. It was such a difficult class that they would have dropped out after the first week anyway.

For once, I couldn't bring myself to get excited about the runes, and Professor Babbling had to ask me several times if I was feeling all right. I told her I was fine, I just had a number of things on my mind, which wasn't a lie. I was getting worried, though: this was certainly not the first time I'd had a lot to think about, but my performance in school had not suffered those other times, either…

The bell rang, jostling me out of my thought. I had at least a full hour until dinner and I didn't know what to do with myself. I couldn't hang out with Harry and Ron, I was sure of that. I would have to wait until Ron's anger abated, and I wasn't sure when that would be.

I was very tempted to run to my refuge in the library but realized if my friends intended to come find me, that was the first place they would check. I sighed, trying to think of a place they would never associate with me. Suddenly, I had an idea, a place I _had_ been before, but would do very well for my purposes: the Room of Requirement. I directed my steps to the seventh floor, and upon reaching the corridor where the magical room was located, I paused for a moment before performing the room-opening ritual. I instructed the room to become a safe haven where I could hide.

I pulled open the worn brass door that appeared, walked inside, and gasped. It looked quite similar to the library. There were huge bookcases with glass doors filled with books. There were squashy armchairs to read in, and best of all, a whole wall taken up by windows to let sunlight in. I walked over to one of the shelves to read some of the spines on the dusty old novels, and my gaze fell on a little crystal dragon. I frowned and brushed it carefully with my pinky, afraid that it might come to life and bite me. When it did no such thing, I picked it up, placed it on the palm of my hand, and brought it over to the wall of windows.

I smiled at the rainbows reaching out from the small creature. It was so beautiful. I could have watched it for hours, only-

"Hermione?"

I jumped and dropped the dragon, which shattered into tiny crystal fragments.

I twisted around and my jaw dropped involuntarily. "_Ron_?" I said incredulously. "How did you get in here?"

He blushed. "I, um, asked the room to become wherever you were hiding."

"But how did you know I was in here?" I persisted.

"Well, Harry and me looked for you on the Maurader's Map, but you didn't seem to be on there, plus we figured you'd probably be hiding. So Harry suggested I check here, and, well, I found you," he babbled.

"Oh," I said awkwardly. "I didn't think anyone would be able to come in."

He tried to smile. "I know you too well, I guess."

"Yeah, apparently," I agreed.

I knelt down and began to pick up the shards of the crystal dragon. Ron watched me for a minute, looking puzzled.

"Hermione, why can't you just clean that up with magic?" he asked.

I didn't want Ron to know what shape it had been. I didn't want him to take it the wrong way. "Because I'm, uh, pretending I'm a house elf!" I improvised.

"I'm pretty sure they can use their magic to clean up glass," he said slowly.

"Well, yes, but house elves often have to do unpleasant chores, so here I am, doing an unpleasant chore, too!" I said brightly.

He gave me the exact same confused look Malfoy had given me earlier. The 'okay, you've definitely lost it' look.

I sighed. "Look, I'm almost done, and then we can talk about whatever you came to-_ouch!_" I resisted the urge to swear loudly. Hermione Granger did not swear.

"Are you okay?" Ron asked worriedly.

"Cut myself," I said with a grimace.

"Here, let me see," he ordered, so I held out my finger for his inspection.

"Well, the glass isn't embedded deeply. It should be really easy to get out," he assured me.

"I-okay," I said nervously.

He took my other hand and squeezed it. "This shouldn't hurt too much." He waved his wand and a bowl of warm water appeared, along with a fluffy white hand towel.

"Put your hand in that," he said, nodding at the bowl.

I cautiously stuck my hand in, then relaxed. The warm water was quite soothing.

We stayed like that for a couple of minutes. I stood there with my hand in the water, and Ron stared at my hand.

"Okay, take your hand out now," he told me.

I obeyed and he held it up gently, carefully examining it to see if the glass remained.

"Looks good now," he said softly.

"Thanks," I said gratefully, then paused. I wasn't sure what to do now.

We both moved towards each other, and I held out my arms to hug him. He stepped in and returned the hug. It was warm and comforting, and I couldn't help but notice that he really had grown taller over the summer.

"Hermione?" Ron said after a while.

"Hmm?" I replied.

He tilted my chin up so that I was looking into his eyes. "I, uh, never mind."

"What?" I said curiously.

"Nothing," he said hastily, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from my face. Suddenly, I felt him bend down.

"Ron," I said tensely.

He stopped. "What?" he said, and I thought I saw a hurt look cross his face.

"I-I really, uh, don't think we should-" My stammering was broken off by his lips, which he had brought down on mine in a soft kiss.

I pulled away as gently as I could, trying not to look disgusted. "Please don't do that," I whispered, and ran out of the room.

His anguished cries of "Hermione!" were not enough to bring me back.

**CatB: I'm not sure the beginning even makes any sense. This chapter...I love it and I hate it. So please let me know what you think! Constructive criticism is my friend. **

**Reviews are loved-they make my day. Seriously, there is nothing like coming home from a grueling day of school and seeing even a single, short review...oh! I love them so much! =)**


	4. A Boyfriend Is Just What I Need

**CatB: Yay! It's Chapter 4. 'Nuff said. **

**Disclaimer: Still not the owner of Harry Potter. Still borrowing the characters for my own enjoyment, yadda yadda yadda. I need a more creative disclaimer, honestly.**

**WARNING: I admit, Hermione is a little OOC in this chapter. Unfortunately, there was not a whole lot I could do about that. Sorry! If you have any suggestions about what to do to fix this, please let me know. **

That evening at dinner, I sat with Ginny, careful not to look Ron's way even once. I knew he was crushed by how I had treated him and was very likely going to spend the rest of the night dissecting my behavior towards him with Harry. I sighed miserably. It wasn't fair that I had to avoid _both _of my best friends.

Remembering that I still had Ginny, I turned to ask her something, only to find her deep in conversation with Dean Thomas. At least she had her boyfriend, and of course, Harry and Ron had each other, so that left me with…no one. I felt so alone and didn't know what to do about it. My first thought was that I could throw myself further into my studies to take my mind off things, but then I realized that was what I had always done. I needed to do something different, especially after what I had told Ron earlier about people changing over time. I found myself thinking I should get a boyfriend, assuming they would be more supportive than my friends had been.

As I scanned the Great Hall, my eyes fell on Zacharias Smith, and I smiled. Smith was perfect-he was decent-looking, he didn't care too much about school, and Harry and Ron couldn't stand him. Come to think of it, I couldn't stand him either, but I wanted to send a clear message to Ron that I wasn't interested in him, without having to tell him outright. I was too much of a coward and cared for him enough that I couldn't break it to him personally.

"I'll be right back," I told Ginny, who did not give any indication that she had heard me.

I walked over to the Hufflepuff table, noticing as I did so that Ron was staring at me.

I tapped Smith on the shoulder and he turned around, brow furrowing in confusion as soon as he saw me.

"I was just wondering if I could sit here," I said sweetly. Harry was staring at me by this time, too. "I have to talk to you about something," I added.

He looked nonplussed, but managed to say, "Well, there isn't any room, sorry."

"I can't just sit on your lap or something?" I asked, and he laughed. I hadn't meant to be funny.

"You have to talk to me that badly?" He smirked, looking me up and down appraisingly, his gaze lingering a little too long at my chest.

I gritted my teeth. Over at the Slytherin table, Malfoy was watching me closely as well. "Excuse me," I said politely to the girl sitting next to Smith. "Do you think you could get up for a minute, please?"

She stood up most unwillingly, glaring at me as she did so.

I swung myself over the bench and onto Smith's lap. It was not as comfortable as everyone made it seem. "So," I continued casually, as though I sat on a boy's lap every day, "I was wondering if you'd like to go to Hogsmeade with me sometime."

"Well," he said slowly, "I might just have to take you up on that offer, Gra-Hermione."

I smiled at him. "Great!" I said brightly, and then paused. "I'll see you later, I guess."

"Sounds good," he said rather suggestively, and I forced myself not to roll my eyes.

I walked back over to my table and sat down, ignoring the shocked looks on the faces of people in the vicinity.

"What was that all about, Hermione Granger?" Ginny demanded in a whisper.

I shrugged. "Just asking Zacharias Smith if he would go to Hogsmeade with me sometime."

"You…asked out _Smith_?" Ginny gasped. She narrowed her eyes at me. "Would this have anything to do with my brother, by any chance?"

"Can I tell you later?" I said nervously, afraid we might be overheard.

"Yes, you _will _tell me later." She turned back to her boyfriend, leaving me alone again.

I looked over at the Hufflepuff table, and Smith winked at me. I resisted the urge to shudder. What on earth had I gotten myself into?

* * *

A short while later, I was finished my food, so I told Ginny I was going back to the common room to finish some homework. I had no intention of doing this, however. I was actually planning to go to the Room of Requirement again.

Unfortunately, I had no idea that someone had followed me out of the Great Hall…

I was thinking so hard about what instructions to give the Room (because I didn't want someone to walk in on me again) that I didn't notice the footsteps until I had reached the fifth floor. The person was slightly out of synch with my pace, and their steps sounded rather heavy, so I guessed they were male. Fearing it was Harry, or worse, Ron, coming to demand an explanation for how I had acted at dinner, I carefully drew my wand out of my pocket and continued to walk.

I walked briskly up a moving staircase that would take me to the sixth floor, almost forgetting about the trick step. I was getting panicky, so I gripped my wand tighter and walked a little faster, but I could still hear the footfalls of my pursuer. None of the portraits seemed to think there was anything unusual about all this, so I made sure to give each of them my best glare as I passed by, practically running.

Finally, as I headed up the stairs to the seventh floor, I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't have the person follow me to my little book haven. I whipped around and pointed my wand at-

"Smith?" I said disbelievingly. I put my wand away regretfully, thinking it would have been nice to hex him into oblivion. "You gave me quite a scare," I said sternly.

He pouted. "Were you hoping it was someone else?"

I really wanted to say yes. "No," I said quickly. "Of course not."

He grinned. "Good," he said, taking a step closer to me, "because that," another step, "makes me _very_," two more steps, "happy."

The sneaky little git had backed me into the railing so I paused, trying to decide if I should continue up the stairs of go back down. Seeing my indecision, Smith swiftly closed the small gap left between us and crashed his lips down on mine.

Though I hadn't expected to enjoy it, I had to admit to myself that Smith was actually a decent kisser. I reveled in the fact that he was not as good as Viktor Krum had been, however. I relaxed slightly and began to kiss him back, but then he moaned and I remembered who I was with. It didn't matter that he knew how to kiss, he was still an idiot. I couldn't even remember why I had picked him out of the hundreds of eligible students.

I pushed him away from me with some difficulty-he didn't want to budge. Finally, he backed off, looking rather hurt. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

I tried to smile. "No, no," I said airily. "I've just remembered that I've got to get to the library to meet someone."

"Meet someone?" Smith's features took on an angry expression. "Is this someone a guy?"

"Well, we're studying together," I said, a bit too defensive considering I had made up the whole library story.

"Studying?" He made a face. "Never mind, you go ahead. Have fun for me."

"I will," I replied. I began to climb the stairs again, but I had only gone a few more steps when I heard, "Uh, Hermione?"

I held in my sigh and turned to face him. "Yes?"

"Isn't the library on the third floor?" he asked, frowning.

I privately wondered how he even knew where the library was, since I doubted he had ever used it. "Yes, it is, but I'm going this way because it leads to the kitchens," I lied.

"It does?" He raised an eyebrow. "I've always heard that it's on the first floor."

He obviously didn't realize it made more _sense _for it to be on the first floor, but I wasn't going to tell him that. "Whatever you've heard is a lie, I guess. The kitchens are actually up here-but please don't tell anyone I told you."

He grinned. "Of course I won't. "

"Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to be going." I ran up the stairs without waiting for a reply, laughing quietly to myself. What an idiot Smith was, if he actually thought the food would be transported _six floors down_ to the Great Hall. Magic or not, the idea was ludicrous.

Outside the Room of Requirement, I told the Room I needed a place to do my homework where Ron and Harry couldn't find me.

I pulled open the heavy oak door and walked in, pushing aside the red silk curtain that hung just beyond the doorway. The Room had, for some reason, decided to decorate itself with the Gryffindor colors, red and gold. There was a wall of windows, just as there had been last time, and a single scarlet armchair sat right by this wall. There were fewer bookcases with glass doors but there was a magnificent fireplace with red brick that I had never seen before. Gold accents dotted the walls and shelves, little brass sculptures and golden masks perched on tables and hung from hooks.

I walked over to one of the shelves to discover that my little crystal dragon was back, fully intact. I picked it up gingerly and set it on the table closest to the windows. I smiled at it, then sank into the armchair with a groan. I massaged my shoulder and winced while glaring at my ridiculously heavy bag, which I had carelessly dumped next to my chair.

I reached into the bag and grabbed the first book I found-my Arithmancy textbook. This was a good choice, as Professor Vector had given us a generous amount of work. I slipped my shoes off, curled up in the chair, and began to read…

Sometime later, I woke to find I had dropped the book on the floor and accomplished absolutely nothing, as far as my Arithmancy homework went. I glanced at the clock and gasped. It was 10: 32-if I was caught on my way back to the common room, I would probably receive a detention, not to mention point-docking. I buried my face in my hands. What was I _doing_, falling asleep in the middle of a book? I had never had this problem before. It finally hit me: Getting up in the middle of the night to get food from the kitchens was the cause of all of this. If I hadn't been in the kitchens that other night, Malfoy wouldn't have caught me-and I wouldn't be acting this way! I told myself I just needed to stop making those trips so late. It wasn't like there was no other time I could go. I could always drop in before breakfast or dinner, although the house elves would be extremely busy then.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and stood, stretching luxuriously. I carefully returned the dragon to the shelf where I had found it, all the while bracing myself to creep through the darkened hallways to Gryffindor Tower.

"_Wingardium Leviosa!_" I whispered, levitating my bag. I proceeded to cast a Disillusionment Charm on myself, wishing I had the protection of Harry's Invisibility Cloak. With a Disillusionment Charm, I still ran the risk of being detected.

Luckily, however, my journey back to the common room was fairly uneventful. I did run into Mrs. Norris, but she merely hissed at me, her large eyes following me down the corridor.

I gave the rather grumpy Fat Lady the password, "_Canis latrans," _climbed quietly through the portrait hole, lifted the Disillusionment Charm, and stopped. Ron was standing, arms crossed, right in front of the stairs to the girls' dormitory.

"Hello, Ron," I said cheerfully, smiling at him. "Late, isn't it? I'm off to bed." He didn't seem to understand my hint. He didn't move, at any rate.

"We need to talk, Hermione," he said seriously.

"Aren't we talking now?" I asked nervously.

"You know what I mean!" he shouted.

"Please, Ron, do you think we could talk about this later?" I pleaded. "I still have work to do! I have enough to worry about without you yelling at me, too, you know." My voice cracked.

He had the grace to look ashamed almost immediately. "I shouldn't have yelled," he said apologetically, "it's just-you've been so…distant lately, and that scares me little, I guess."

"Oh, Ron," I sighed, tears springing to my eyes for some inexplicable reason, "don't worry. You'll always be my best friend."

He stiffened a little at this. "Yeah," he said softly. "Best friends."

He moved away from the stairs, his head hanging, and turned to go up to his own dorm.

"Um, Ron?" I said gently.

"What?" he mumbled, still looking at the floor.

"Can I-can I tell you something?" I asked.

He shrugged.

"Well, you'll probably hear about it soon anyway, and I'd rather you hear it from me." I took a deep breath. "I'm sort of going out with someone."

His head snapped up. "It's Smith, isn't it?" he said bitterly.

I wanted to tell him I didn't even like the guy, but I couldn't, because then he would demand to know why we were going out in the first place, and I wasn't sure I could answer that question very well. "Yeah. So, I was thinking, if I'm seeing someone, maybe you could see someone, too," I said carefully.

"Yeah?" He snorted. "Like who?"

I hadn't exactly gotten that far, but then I had an idea. "Well, how about Lavender?"

"Lavender? Lavender _Brown_?" Ron said slowly.

"She likes you," I said quickly. "You should ask her to Hogsmeade or something, she'd be thrilled."

He shook his head. "She's not _you._"

I couldn't help myself-I ran over and hugged him. He patted my head awkwardly. "Um, I think you should go finish your work," he said, unwrapping my arms from his waist.

"Oh, Merlin," I moaned. "Thanks for reminding me."

His eyes flashed. "There you go again," he said through clenched teeth.

"What do you mean?" I asked, looking confused.

"Never mind," he grunted, but then he added, "I can't believe I'm reminding you to do your work."

"Well, who says I forgot about it?" I said hotly. "We were having a nice little conversation, Ron. There was no need to ruin it by reminding me to do my work!"

"Who's to say you wouldn't have forgotten if we had continued to talk about, well, what we were talking about?" Ron said angrily.

"I wouldn't have forgotten. I always do my work! I haven't changed overnight!" I screamed.

"You haven't?" he said quietly. "Because it sure seems that way." He climbed the stairs to his dormitory without looking back.

I stood in the empty common room for a moment, watching the dying embers of the fire, and then I stomped up to my own bed. I pulled my books out and tried not to panic at the thought of what was sure to be my first all-nighter.

**CatB: Ugh, I'm sorry there's no Dramione action in this chapter! I really wanted to have some, but there will DEFINITELY be some in the next chapter, I promise. I just needed to...set some things up in this chapter. *coughsmithcough* Soooo...this chapter was longer, too. Hope that's appreciated. I know it's not like really really long, but I tried. I did. I just didn't want it to drag on and on either....**

**Reviews seriously make my day. I love them! =) **


	5. Nightly Wanderings 2

**CatB: AHA! There IS Dramione action in this chapter! Yay! **

**Disclaimer: It would be so grool (great + cool) if I owned Harry Potter (or Mean Girls, haha), but I don't, so I'm borrowing the characters for fanfiction fun, and making no money or anything. **

The next four days passed slowly, and, though I attended all of my classes, I honestly don't know what we learned. I spent a good deal of my time trying to ignore Malfoy's leers and Harry and Ron's silent treatment. I don't know why Harry insisted on siding with Ron-I was his friend, too. And I was being forced to sit with Ginny at meals because of their immaturity, but I wasn't too pleased about this because with Ginny I was sure to find Dean as well, and they sometimes had trouble keeping their public displays of affection to a minimum.

I was starting to _really_ regret ever asking Smith out, because not only did he insist on his own public displays of affection, which involved an overenthusiastic hug and a slimy, dramatic kiss on the cheek whenever he saw me in the hallways, he was also very controlling about what I ate…

Two days after I had asked him to Hogsmeade, I had been finishing off the last of what had been an _excellent _rice pudding when he slid onto the bench next to me, snaking an arm around my waist. Both Harry and Ron looked at him with disgust before turning away.

"You really shouldn't eat so much, you know," Smith whispered in my ear. "I like my women slender."

I almost choked, then glared at him as best I could through slightly watery eyes. "Excuse me?"

"Well," he shrugged, "I just think you'd look a little better if you didn't eat so much."

"So you think I'm fat." For the second time that week, an opinion that I normally would have been able to overlook was really getting to me. I blinked rapidly and looked at my lap. "I have some homework to finish," I whispered, and hurried out of the Hall before he even realized what had happened.

Back in my dorm, I splashed some water on my face.

"Pull yourself together, Hermione," I told myself sternly. "There is absolutely no need to get so emotional."

It occurred to me that it was probably my period that was messing with my emotions and felt a little better. However, that didn't exactly change the fact that I had gotten myself into the whole mess with Smith. I debated breaking up with him, but with things being so tense with Ron and Harry, he was a way to occupy my time without feeling lonely.

I sighed. I didn't want to starve myself just to keep my "boyfriend" happy either. That was something that _completely_ went against my principles. I would just have to keep up my late-night kitchen visits…and pray I wouldn't run in to Malfoy.

* * *

It was now Friday night, and I was preparing to sneak down to the kitchens, also for the second time that week. If Harry had been talking to me, I would have asked to borrow his Invisibility Cloak; as he was not, I could only hope a Disillusionment Charm would suffice.

When I reached the portrait of the fruit bowl, I was panting. Snape had almost seen me a few corridors away when I stubbed my toe on a suit of armor, and I was forced to dart around a corner before breaking into a run. Now, as I stood at the entrance, I had to smirk as I recalled Smirk's willingness to believe that the kitchens were actually on the seventh floor.

I tickled the pear and the handle appeared. I gripped it firmly, swung it open, and stopped. Malfoy was already in there, sitting on top of _my_ little table, looking very smug. I stifled a groan; between Snape and Malfoy, I'd take Malfoy. At least he couldn't dock points, even if he was an intolerable ignoramus.

"Good evening, Granger," he said with a cruel smile, fixing his pale eyes upon me. "I hope you're not planning on dumping your meal on me this time."

I forced a laugh. "No, no, just waiting for you to move so that I can eat."

His eyes widened. "And why would I, _a Malfoy_, move for you, a lowly-"

"Malfoy," I said warningly.

He looked at me expectantly. "Yes?"

That threw me off a little bit, but I wasn't going to let him know that. "You know, a gentleman would move and let a lady sit down," I told him.

"Yes," he smirked, "but as you are not a lady, I have no obligation towards you whatsoever."

"Get lost," I said sourly, crossing my arms. "I'm in no mood to deal with your-"

"Good looks? Charm? _Superior intelligence_?"

"Fuck off, will you?" I snapped. He looked staggered, and I sighed. "Yes, Malfoy, I just said 'fuck'. No need to act so surprised." I didn't know why I was saying this; I hardly ever cursed and now I was acting like it wasn't at all unusual.

He quickly regained his composure, flashing a smirk at me. "Who said I was surprised?"

"Well, you know, I just assumed you weren't expecting that. I mean, you _did _call me 'the Golden Girl of Gryffindor' the other night, did you not?"

"You remembered," Malfoy said, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye.

"Look, Malfoy, I'm just going to sit here and eat some food. As you appear to be finished, I don't see what you have to gain from standing there and watching me," I said, hoping he was better at taking hints than Ron.

He apparently wasn't, as he replied, "If I imagine you naked while you're doing that, I could, ah, _gain_ quite a bit, actually." I felt myself go red. "That was a joke, Granger."

"I know it was!" I hissed. "I'm not stupid."

"Yes, you make that quite clear in class. Never miss a chance to show off, do you?" he asked.

"No," I replied haughtily.

He laughed, but his laugh didn't have the nasty edge that it usually did. Had I gotten a genuine laugh out of him? Impossible. Suddenly, this new, pleasant-sounding laugh stopped. "Granger," he said seriously, "why are _you _always so mean to _me_?"

I blinked at him. "I beg your pardon?"

"Why are _you _always so mean to _me_?" he repeated, a little slower.

It took me a moment to understand why he was asking such a thing, and nearly a minute to compose my reply. "Because you hate me," I said simply.

"Ah," he said thoughtfully, but that was all.

Just then, my stomach growled and I ducked my head to hide my embarrassment. The noise seemed to snap Malfoy out of his little reverie. "Oh, yes, you were hungry, weren't you?"

"I still am," I pointed out, my face rather heated.

"So here you are, in the kitchens after-hours," he grinned.

I glared at him. "You know, I probably wouldn't be so mean to you if you weren't always reminding me that everyone thinks I'm a goody-two-shoe."

Malfoy shook his head. "They don't think that anymore."

Incredulously, I asked, "What do you mean, they don't think that anymore? Of course they think-"

"Only because you let them," he interrupted. "You _let_ people see you that way, and then you don't do anything to change those perceptions. But _I _know better."

"Don't flatter yourself," I laughed.

"Hermione," he sighed, running a hand through his hair. I froze. "Don't you ever get tired of being so misunderstood?"

"I-I really-" I began, and then Draco Malfoy was kissing me. I hadn't seen it coming, I could honestly tell myself that, but what surprised me more than the fact that he was kissing me was _how _he was kissing me. Unlike Smith, he was gentle, careful not to press our lips together with too much force. It was shocking, to be sure, and by now I was wondering why I hadn't asked _him _out. He would have pissed Ron off just as well.

I pulled away and took a step back. He backed up too, looking uncharacteristically nervous.

"Sorry," he mumbled, but he kept his eyes locked on mine.

"Don't _you_ ever get tired of being so misunderstood?" I asked in amazement.

He stiffened and swore under his breath. I was slightly insulted, until I realized he wasn't looking at me, but at someone or something right behind me. I spun around and found myself face-to-face with Harry and Ron. Harry looked shocked, but Ron looked like he was about to explode. The tips of his ears were red and he was glaring at both of us.

"Hey, guys," I said nervously. "What are you doing here?" I watched Harry fold his Invisibility Cloak carefully, wondering how long the two of them had been standing there, unbeknownst to me.

"Funny, we could ask you the same question," Ron snarled. Harry put his hand on Ron's arm, holding him back.

"Let me deal with this, Ron," he told him, then turned back to me. "To answer your question, Hermione, Ron seems to have a sixth sense about you. Woke me up and asked me to find you on the Marauder's Map. When we saw you were with _him_," he gave Malfoy a nasty look, "we thought you might be in trouble."

"So you guys were trying to protect me," I said, narrowing my eyes.

Ron nodded tersely. "Nothing wrong with that."

"Do I not have a wand that I can use to protect myself?" I asked. "It's not as if I'm completely defenseless."

"Yeah, but he's stronger than you," Ron said through clenched teeth.

"I'm wasn't in trouble, I was hungry!" I said angrily.

"But why are you wandering around after-hours, then?" Harry said suspiciously.

"And why are you wandering around after-hours with the likes of him?" Ron demanded. He nodded at Malfoy, who was watching our exchange with an amused smirk on his face.

"For the record, I'm not 'wandering around'. I came straight here to get some food. Malfoy was already in here when I arrived, and though I asked him to leave, he wouldn't."

"Well, that's a surprise," Ron muttered.

"Anyway," I continued, "I was just going to ask the elves for some food to bring back to the common room. I wasn't planning on hanging out with Malfoy or anything, so I don't understand why you two couldn't have just stayed in your dorm and made sure I made it out of here safely from there. The Map could've showed you all that, but no, you had to come all the way down here and make sure I was okay."

"You're being ungrateful, Hermione," Ron snapped.

"I am not," I retorted. "I was in no danger, and you know it."

"You might have been," Harry said cautiously. "Malfoy could've knocked you out and dragged you back to his common room, and there would've been no saving you if that happened."

I rolled my eyes. "Why can't you guys just admit that you wanted to play the heroes?"

"We weren't trying to play the heroes, Hermione," Harry said quietly. "We were _trying_ to be your friends and help you out, that's all."

"I didn't need your help!" I cried.

"You've made that perfectly clear," Harry said gently. "But we didn't know that, did we?"

"Or perhaps you felt threatened," Malfoy said with a sneer. "Threatened by the idea of the two of us…together."

"Together?" Ron shouted.

"Together?" Harry repeated, looking between us.

"We're not _together_," I said automatically, shooting Malfoy my best 'Are you crazy?' look.

"I'm not saying we are," Malfoy said smoothly. "I'm merely mentioning the possibility that they see me as a romantic rival."

"Romantic rival?" Ron snorted. "As if."

"Really? I just find it rather strange that you would come all this way to 'save' Hermione when you should know perfectly well, having been her friends for six years, that she is a clever enough witch to take on even a Malfoy."

"Don't call her Hermione!" Ron hissed, pulling out his wand.

"Ron, I told him he could call me that," I lied quickly, hoping to avoid a fight.

"You _did_?" Harry and Ron said in unison.

I nodded. "Anyway, how about we get that food and get back to the common room?" I said brightly as Ron and Harry gave Malfoy looks of suspicion and extreme distrust. I picked Marty out of the elves scurrying about and waved him over. "Marty, would you mind giving me some leftovers from dinner? If it's not too much bother?"

"Of course, Miss!" he squeaked.

A moment later he was back with a large tray of food.

"Thank you very much, Marty," I told him.

"Here, I've got it," Ron said shortly.

"Ron, I am perfectly capable of carrying my own food," I said, frustrated.

"I said I've got it," Ron insisted.

I sighed. "Fine. You two go ahead. I've got something to straighten out with Malfoy."

Both of my friends stared at me.

"I'll be fine," I said impatiently.

"How are you going to get back without the Cloak?" Harry asked.

"I got down here undetected, didn't I?" I asked.

"Oh yeah." Harry swung the cloak over the two of them and the tray of food. I watched the door open and close before turning back to Malfoy.

"Thank you," I said softly.

"For what?" he said, the surprise evident in his voice.

"For helping me deal with them. And for calling me clever," I said, blushing slightly.

"Well, thank you for lying for me. I didn't mean to call you Hermione," he added.

"What are you supposed to call me, then? Isn't that my name?" I said playfully.

He looked at the ground. "I usually just call you Granger, don't I?"

"Yeah, but…I prefer Hermione," I said honestly.

"Even from me?"

"Even from you."

When I returned to the common room, I had to work hard to contain my smile as I devoured my late-night snacks.

**CatB: Hope you enjoyed it! Sorry it's kinda rushed; I was just trying to update ASAP, I mean, it's been, what, four or five months now? Something like that. I just wanted to have something new up! **

**You know the drill! (I hope) Review and say what you liked, what you didn't like, what needs improvement, etc. You could even just say "Thanks for updating," that would be just as awesome.**


	6. Hogsmeade? No, Thank You

**CatB: After approximately a year and half of no activity, this story has finally been updated! Long story short: I didn't think I could finish this. But I was inspired by someone the other day to keep working on it, and so I have. :) By the way, I apologize for the lack of action in this chapter-again, its main function is to set up more exciting plot stuff.  
**

**Note: The character Yuzihan is in this because I promised the first reviewer of the last chapter a cameo, and that's the character she came up with. **

**DISCLAIMER: No ownage of HP goin' on hurrr.  
**

Despite my late night, I awoke the next morning while it was still rather dark out. I lay in bed for a long time, waiting for the sun to rise on what would hopefully be a better day than the last. I was in no hurry to leave my dorm, though. Going down to the common room meant facing Harry and Ron; going down to breakfast meant facing Smith. Shuddering at the thought of making forced conversation with any of them, I grabbed a few books and a couple of pieces of parchment and began my essays for Potions and Transfiguration. Shortly after I finished rough drafts of both essays, I began to feel hungry. I sighed and put down my quill, telling myself I couldn't hide upstairs forever.

Fortunately, I saw neither Harry nor Ron on my trek down to the Great Hall, although I did run into Lavender Brown on the second floor. I made sure to encourage her to talk to Ron.

Arriving at breakfast, I belatedly remembered that it was a Hogsmeade weekend: in spite of the early hour, hordes of people were scarfing down food, eager to get to the Wizarding village as early as possible. Among these people were, of course, Harry and Ron. I made sure to sit on the opposite end of the Gryffindor table after I spotted Ron giving me a nasty look. Apparently he wasn't over the events of last night yet. At least there was no sign of Smith…

Someone tapped my shoulder. I turned and quickly stifled a groan.

"Good morning," Smith said pleasantly.

I clenched my teeth, not even bothering to respond.

"Well, today's the big day," he continued brightly. "Hermione," here, he tried to adopt a serious tone, "would you do me the honor of being my date to Hogsmeade?"

I fought the urge to roll my eyes at him. Why was he being so formal?

Going to Hogsmeade with him, boyfriend or not, was the last thing I intended to do, so I shot him a weak smile and said, "Actually, Zach…I'm really not feeling week. I've been feeling nauseous all morning and I've been coughing a lot." I then faked a small fit.

"Aw, poor baby," Smith said. "Hey, why don't I stay here and take care of you?"

Both his tone and his suggestion really did make me want to throw up. Fighting to keep the horror from showing on my face, I choked out, "That really won't be necessary. I'm just going to be sleeping."

"I really must insist, Hermione," Smith, well, insisted. Why was he picking now, of all times, to act like a gentleman?

He kept badgering me, so I finally caved and told him he could stay. But I'd be damned if I let that boy come anywhere near me…

* * *

First, I gave Smith a fake password to give the Fat Lady. Second (assuming he was then able to figure out the real one after being denied entrance), I told a few girls in my year that we had had a quarrel, so if they saw him, they were under no circumstances to tell him that I wasn't really there. I had no intention of staying cooped up in my dorm all day; I was going to go back to the Room of Requirement. I took my bag and a few books and made my way to the special seventh floor corridor. I was just about to begin the three turns in front of the wall when a voice said, "Though I might find you here, Granger."

I spun around and quickly recognized the speaker, a petite, dark-haired girl, as a Slytherin who was prone to hanging out with Malfoy. She was known simply as "Yuzihan." Unsure as to what she might be doing there, I tried to subtly reach for my wand. She saw me do this, however, and sneered. "Relax, Granger, I'm not going to attack you."

"What do you want, then?" I asked suspiciously. Then a thought occurred to me. "Did Malfoy send you here?"

She shrugged. "What does it matter?"

"It _matters_," I was getting frustrated by this point, "because if he's…I don't know, stalking me or something, I would very much like to know!"

Yuzihan took a step back. "Chill. He's not _stalking you_, he wanted me to find out why you weren't going to Hogsmeade." She clapped her hands over her mouth, realizing her slip-up. "Shit," she mumbled.

I stared at her. She wasn't doing a very good job at the whole following thing, was she? But, more importantly… "Why did he want to know? And how did he know I wasn't going to Hogsmeade?"

"He didn't tell me why and he knew because he didn't see you leave." She sounded bored having to explain it all. I was still struggling to understand, though, even given her simple answers.

"Well, you're his friend, why wouldn't he tell you why he was having you follow me?" I asked, bewildered.

"Friend?" She laughed humorlessly. "Hardly."

I was curious despite myself. "Oh?"

"He treats me like dirt-"

"I'm not surprised," I snorted.

"I thought he would be a cool person to hang out with but he's always sending me to do things for him," Yuzihan complained.

I almost felt sorry for her. Almost. "Find a new group of friends, then," I suggested. I was growing impatient. I just wanted to escape into the Room and forget the events of last night, forget that I wasn't talking to my two best friends and somehow talking to the boy that I had sworn I would always hate.

"I would, but," she sighed, "no one seems to really like me."

"Well, that's a shame," I said, trying to sound sincere, "but there's really nothing I can do about that, sorry."

"Hermione!" a voice called from somewhere behind me. The voice was very familiar…

"Smith?" I groaned, but not loudly enough for him to hear. I turned to find him jogging towards me, looking somewhat alarmed.

"Hermione, hey, what are you doing all the way up here?"

"I…nothing," I said quickly.

He grinned. "Liar. You were trying to sneak up to the kitchens, weren't you?"

I glanced over at Yuzihan. Her face was clearly asking 'what is he talking about?' "Uh, yeah, exactly. You got me. So what are _you_ doing up here?"

"Coming up to the kitchens to get you some food, of course," he said.

Yuzihan giggled at this, and it was all I could do not to stomp on her foot. Instead, I shot her my best glare, warning her not to say anything about the true location of the kitchens.

"Yes, well, that was really nice of you, Zach," I said with a bat of my eyelashes. "But I'm really not feeling very hungry right now." I coughed a few times.

"Well, let me escort you back to the common room, then," Smith said. "You really must be sick, Hermione, you gave me the wrong password!" He laughed. "Luckily I've figured out the real one so we're not locked out."

"Yeah, _luckily_," I muttered unhappily, allowing him to hold onto my shoulders and guide me towards the stairs.

Glancing back, I saw that Yuzihan was gone. I wondered whether she was going to report back to Malfoy or not, and, if she was, what she was going to say.

"The password's _serpentis_," Smith was saying. "Like 'snake', but in Latin. Why it couldn't just be 'snake', I don't know."

"I don't know either," I said flatly.

Smith continued to blabber until we reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. There, he looked at me very seriously and said, "Now, do you promise to stay in there and get some rest?"

"Yes, I do," I said as solemnly as I could. "I'm going to go take a nap."

"Good," he nodded. "I'll come back and check on you later, babe."

I almost gagged. "Okay."

I turned and climbed through the portrait hole more quickly than I had ever climbed through before.

* * *

I was going to have to be more careful this time, I realized. I waited nearly half an hour, then poked my head out of the portrait hole. The coast was clear, so I climbed out and hurried over to a hidden passage behind a tapestry of a witch and her bubbling concoction. Glancing around to make sure no one was around, I pulled the tapestry away from the wall and opened the door that lay behind it.

The tunnel was rather dark. I whispered, "_Lumos!_" to make the way a little easier.

I continued my journey up to the seventh floor in a similar manner, using all of the secret means that I knew of. Fortunately, I had several memorized from previous covert operations, and from looking at the Maurader's Map a fair few times.

This time, I managed to get into the Room undetected. I told it to become a place where I could hide, where Harry and Ron and Smith couldn't find me. I figured those instructions would be specific enough to keep them out.

Entering the Room, I found that it was very similar to the room it had become the last time I was in it; the Gryffindor-themed décor was back, as was the little crystal dragon. The Room seemed to know that I planned to do a lot of thinking, however, for it had removed the many bookcases and replaced them with a number of fluffy cushions.

I again put the dragon close to the wall of windows. It was becoming something of a ritual, I noticed.

I sank into one of the ruby cushions. I had just experienced one of the most confusing weeks of my life. I had been caught not paying attention in class, kissed _Malfoy_, of all people, and had somehow gotten myself a very slimy git of a boyfriend.

"Merlin," I groaned, putting my head in my hands. "What am I going to _do?_" I prided myself on being able to come up with quick solutions, but so far, I was not finding any solutions, much less finding them at a rapid speed.

The sound of a floorboard creaking made me snap my head up. When I looked around, however, I didn't see anything. I frowned and stood noiselessly, drawing my wand as I did so. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the curtain in front of the doorway move slightly. Was there someone behind it?

I crept forward and gingerly poked the fabric. There didn't seem to be anyone there, so I ripped it aside, wand aloft, ready to attack should I need to. I felt rather foolish upon discovering that there really was no one there.

"Cut it out, Hermione," I told myself. "No one's here but you." I didn't completely believe what I was saying, however. I pushed the door to the Room open and peeked out into the corridor. It was empty.

I still felt a bit disturbed by the whole thing, so I quickly gathered up my bag and left. As I walked down the hallway I made sure to check behind the suits of armor and doorways, but still saw no one.

I was in such a hurry to return to Gryffindor tower that I grew rather careless. When I turned the corner of the hallway in which the Fat Lady was hung, I found myself face to face with none other than Smith. I cursed under my breath.

Smith looked surprised at first, but his features soon took on an angry look. "Were you out again?"

"Yes, I was," I answered defiantly.

"Hermione, you're sick-"

"No, I'm not," I interrupted. "I'm not sick. I never was sick."

He looked confused. "Huh?" was his intelligent reply.

I sighed. Did I really have to spell it out for him? "I lied," I said, exasperated. "Okay? I lied, because I didn't want to go to Hogsmeade with you."

The rage had faded, and sadness took its place. "Why didn't you just say so?"

I hadn't quite come up with a way to explain that yet. "I…don't know."

"Do you even like me? I thought it was pretty weird that you suddenly wanted to go out with me…"

I nearly laughed out loud. So he had finally gotten something right. "Not really," I confessed. I felt terrible abut telling him that, but I felt even worse about the thought of continuing to lead him on. "In fact," I continued, "I only wanted a boyfriend because Harry and Ron weren't talking to me. I was, well, lonely."

"Yeah, well, if you're ever feeling lonely again, you know who to talk to," he joked. He didn't seem to be completely okay, but I figured he would be over it after a couple of days.

I fed him another small lie. "Thanks."

I entered the common room and headed upstairs to my dorm. I still had a whole day ahead of me, and now I really did have it all to myself. As I settled in and prepared to do a little homework, I realized that sometimes, things really do have to get worse before they can get better.

**CatB: As usual, I'm not completely happy with this. Specifically, I hate the ending. That was me trying to wrap things up, honestly. And in case you're wondering, that whole conversation with Yuzihan _was_ significant. You'll see in later chapters. ^^  
**

**Also, as usual, let me know what you thought!  
**


	7. I Can't Comprehend Boys

**CatB: New chappie, hurray! There is some Draco in this chapter, never fear! (And I'm sorry that the last chapter was so freaking boring.)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HP. I've told you this in some form or fashion six times already (or more if you've read my other stories XD), when are you going to get it? /has no more ideas for disclaimers**

That evening, when I stepped into the Great Hall for dinner, my eyes immediately sought out Harry and Ron. As soon as I found them, I hurried over ad slid in next to Harry.

"Hello," I said brightly. Both boys turned to stare at me.

"Er, hi," Harry said at last, looking from Ron to me and back again.

"What do you want?" Ron snapped, stabbing the roast beef with more force than I personally thought was necessary.

Taken aback by his less than friendly reception, I said meekly, "I just wanted to say-that is, you should know that I-I broke up with Smith."

Ron's faced showed no emotion at this news. Harry, however, grinned broadly and said, "That's great! Isn't it great, Ron?" He nudged Ron, whose face was still blank.

I sighed inwardly. Honestly, how stubborn was he? At least I had told him about the breakup before he heard it from someone else. Didn't that count for anything?

"…can't tell you how much we missed you today, Hermione," Harry was saying when I tuned back in. "Or, uh, how much _I_ missed you, anyway," he amended hastily, glancing at Ron.

"I missed you, too. _Both _of you." I tried to catch Ron's eye when I said this.

"So, what sorts of things did you get up to today?" Harry asked.

"Well, I worked on the Potions and Transfiguration essays this morning," I began, "and then I got in some practice for Charms, read three chapters of the History of Magic assignment-"

Harry stopped me by putting up his hand. "Typical Hermione." This statement was accompanied by an eye roll and another grin. I thought I saw a small smile appear on Ron's face as well, but it was gone before I could be sure.

I quickly seized on what Harry had said. "Yeah, you know me," I said casually. "I never miss a chance to get work done. That hasn't changed." I looked pointedly at Ron, who finally met my eyes, if only for a split second.

"Anyway, what did you two do in Hogsmeade?" I directed this query to Ron, hoping he was willing to talk to me at last. To my surprise, he was. Shrugging, he told me about their adventures in Honeydukes (where they had both tried a chocolate-covered dung beetle) and their observations in The Three Broomsticks (where Lavender had had a hard time keeping her eyes off of him). He got more and more into the conversation as he went on, I noticed. My pointing out that things were still relatively the same seemed to cheer him up immensely. Did he really think I was acting that differently? I mean, aside from not wanting to kill Malfoy as much as usual, everything was as it had always been, wasn't it?

At about this time, I suddenly began to feel as though someone was watching me. Turning, I found myself facing the Slytherin table, and, more specifically, Yuzihan. She was not looking at me, however, she seemed busy whispering something in the ear of one Draco Malfoy.

I narrowed my eyes at her, thinking back to our dialogue earlier that day.

"_He wanted me to find out why you weren't going to Hogsmeade…he's always sending me to do things for him."_

Funny, it didn't look as though she was regretting her choice of friends now…

And then it clicked. I could have smacked myself, I felt so stupid.

"Of course!" I whispered to myself. Yuzihan was only _pretending _to be sick of Malfoy…but why? What purpose could all of her whining to me have served? Recalling the growing impatience I felt as she blabbered on about her problems, the answer became clear: She had been stalling for time, trying to figure out exactly what I was up to in the seventh-floor corridor. Following this line of thinking, I realized that someone must have entered the Room of Requirement behind me that short while later. Whether it was Yuzihan or Malfoy, I couldn't be sure, but I would have bet Galleons that it had been Malfoy. If he had heard my instructions, I reasoned, he would have been able to get in without a problem.

If my reasoning was indeed correct, I resented him, viewing his actions as little more than an invasion of my privacy. Why exactly was he so keen on knowing what I did with my free time, anyway? If he was trying to confuse me more than he already had, well, he was succeeding.

I felt myself beginning to shake ever so slightly. I wanted nothing more than to storm over to the Slytherin table and confront him, but of course I couldn't. Harry and Ron would probably be so alarmed by my accusations that they would never let me out of their sight again, which would be worse than dating Smith had been, because Smith, at least, wasn't in the same House as me.

"Hermione, are you okay?"

I blinked, focusing on Ron's concerned face. "What? Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" There was a hint of worry in Harry's voice. "You're sort of shaking…"

"I'm really okay," I assured my two friends. "I promise."

Though both looked skeptical, they began a long-winded discussion about Quidditch, leaving me to my thoughts again.

* * *

Breakfast on Sunday morning started out quite lovely. Not only were Harry and Ron my friends once more, I was also unable to find Malfoy anywhere at the Slytherin table. This pleased me because I was sick of the blond boy invading my thoughts, sick of feeling so conflicted about him, and I was certain that the expression "out of sight, out of mind" would apply very nicely to the whole situation.

In fact, I was feeling so charitable that I offered to help Harry and Ron with the essays that I had started the pervious morning. I had just pulled the rough draft of my Transfiguration essay out of my bag to show them when I noticed identical looks of loathing on their faces. The reason for their disgust revealed itself moments later.

"Hey, Hermione," Malfoy drawled from somewhere behind me.

I twisted around to glare at him. What was he _doing_, approaching me in front of my friends? And why was he still calling me "Hermione"? I would have thought he would be back to his old tricks by this point, calling me "Granger" or even "Mudblood."

"You're not happy to see me," he stated with a smirk. I heard Harry mutter, "No shit," under his breath.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Ron asked loudly, for which I was grateful. I didn't trust myself to do any talking whatsoever right then.

Malfoy's smile was almost condescending now. "Well, Weasley, I simply wanted Hermione here to know how much I enjoyed the other night."

"The other night?" Ron repeated.

"That's what I said, yes," Malfoy said smoothly. "Hermione, we should certainly set aside some time to do it again."

"Do what, exactly?" Harry's teeth were clenched.

"Well, you see, Potter, I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you. Oh, wait, I actually wouldn't mind that."

Ron stood up, his face and ears bright red, ready to retaliate. "You-"

"Ron!" I hissed. "Sit down, please, you're causing a scene."

"_I'm _causing a scene?" he laughed humorlessly. "_He's _the one coming over here, acting like he fucking knows you-"

"Ron," Harry said tersely, "Let it go. It's only Malfoy."

"Tell me, Weasley, how do your chances look now?" Malfoy's smile was getting more and more sinister.

"What chances?" Ron snapped.

"Your chances with Hermione," Malfoy said, as if he thought Ron was slow.

I began to panic. What if Malfoy was trying to lead up to revealing the kiss we shared? My friends couldn't know about that under any circumstances.

I pasted a big smile on my face. "Could I talk to you for a moment?" I addressed Malfoy in the sweetest tone I could stand to use.

"Of course." His tone was equally sweet.

"Hermione, what? No!" Ron said furiously.

I ignored him, rose and walked quickly out of the Hall, not even checking to see if he was following. Hogwarts students tended to gossip, and Malfoy's appearance at the Gryffindor table probably already had people talking. I was not about to give them more juicy material.

Once outside, I dragged him into a nearby classroom, wrinkling my nose at the strange smells that were suddenly present.

"What are you playing at?" I demanded, abandoning any pretense of politeness.

He grinned. "Whatever do you mean, dearest Hermione?"

I groaned. "Okay, when I said you could call me Hermione, I didn't mean for you to abuse that privilege, in front of my friends or otherwise. And, well, I didn't even think you would keep calling me that," I confessed, slightly flushed.

"I try not to do what people expect. You could learn to do that a bit more often," he smirked.

"Why is this so funny to you?"

"Why do you think this is funny to me?" he countered.

"Because-" I didn't think I could explain it, especially not to him. "I don't know, I just wish you would stop."

"Stop what?"

"Well, first of all, you can stop doing _that_."

"Doing what?" He started to laugh, so I knew that he knew what I was talking about.

"Being an immature boy," I muttered. Out loud, though, I said, "Answering my questions with questions, it's getting more than a little annoying."

"Fine," he shrugged. "Anything else you'd like to ask?"

I answered straightaway. "Yes."

He gave a mock bow. "By all means, make your request."

"Could you…" I wasn't entirely sure how to phrase was I was asking. "Would it be possible for you to refrain from talking to me in front of Harry and Ron?"

"But it's so much fun to make them angry," he protested.

I rolled my eyes. "They're going to get suspicious if you're not careful."

"Careful…?"

I lowered my voice. "If they were to find out about the-you know-" I turned even redder.

He caught on immediately. "The kiss?"

"Yes, that," I said uncomfortably. "If they knew about it-"

"I want them to."

I gaped at him. "What? _Why?_ Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"I'm pretty sure I can take the two of them on," he said confidently.

"This isn't about-why would you want-" I sputtered. Honestly, was he mental? Why else would he want them to know, unless…"This is all a game to you, isn't it?"

"A-"

"It is!" I cried, glad to have finally figured something out for myself. "You're dangling this shocking piece of information to make us all nervous, and then you're going to drop the bombshell and enjoy the ensuing chaos!"

The look on his face was one of utter befuddlement. "Hermione-"

"I don't believe this," I told him. "I feel like such an idiot. I should have known-"

"Should have known _what_?" he asked, frustrated.

"That kiss didn't mean anything to you," I said bitterly. "It didn't mean anything to me, either," I added quickly, "but I really thought you were a nicer person than I always gave you credit for."

"You thought-"

"Forget it," I whispered, and ran out of the room before he could realize that I had started crying. It wasn't until I had reached Gryffindor Tower that I remembered that I hadn't asked him about Yuzihan and the Room of Requirement.

* * *

The day that followed was pretty miserable. Ron, Harry _and _Ginny all wanted to know what I had spoken to Malfoy about. I considered telling Ginny what had happened so I could ask for some advice, but ultimately decided that would be a bad idea. She would make a big deal out of it, and that was definitely not what I wanted.

I didn't know exactly what I did want, though, either. Did I want him to leave me alone? Maybe. (Although if I was being perfectly honest, not really.) Did I want him to follow me into the Room of Requirement? Of course not. But when I asked myself what I _did _want from him, I couldn't come up with any sort of answer at all.

I sat in the common room after dinner, pondering the many reasons why Malfoy was acting the way that he was. Although two of my best friends were boys, I didn't have a good sense of how the male brain worked, so I wasn't able to come up with any ideas that satisfied me.

"Hermione?" It was Ginny. "Mind if I sit here?"

"Of course not." I shifted over so there would be room for her on the large, squashy armchair I was occupying.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

I sighed. "Not exactly."

"Wanna talk about it?"

I shook my head. "Not really."

"Would you be up for listening to me rant for a while, then?" She looked troubled, and I was immediately concerned.

"Ginny, what's wrong? Did something happen with Dean?"

She laughed sourly. "No, that's the problem. _Nothing's _happening with Dean. Nothing's _been _happening with him."

"What do you mean?"

"He just hasn't been paying that much attention to me anymore," she complained. "It's like I'm talking to him and he doesn't have any idea what I'm saying, even though what I'm saying makes perfect sense."

"I'm not sure I'm the person to talk to about all this," I began tentatively, "but maybe he's trying to tell you that he doesn't want to be with you anymore?"

It was the wrong thing to say. The redhead bristled and said, "If that's how he feels he should just say it to my face. God! I am so _sick _of all this rubbish with boys."

I couldn't agree with her more.

**CatB: Let me know what you thought! **

**I hate to be one of those people that doesn't update until they get x number of reviews, but I'm thinking of starting to do that simply because of the lack of reviews I got on the last chapter. I mean, if I don't know how people feel about my story, why should I continue it? I understand that the last chapter had no Dramione action, but I honestly don't think that's a reason to not review. Just something to keep in mind, guys.  
**


	8. It's Over But It Never Really Began

**CatB: Chapter 8 is here! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: As much as I wish that I owned HP, I do not. Borrowing characters for fanfiction fun does not make me any money. **

On Monday morning, I rose a few minutes earlier than usual so that I could make certain I had all the right books packed for the day. I was terrified of being caught unprepared again.

In Potions, we were attempting to brew a potion that could make the drinker appear younger-a very difficult potion indeed, and hard to complete in the single class period we were given.

I had barely set up my cauldron and all the ingredients I would need when Malfoy raised his hand.

"Yes, Mister Malfoy?" Professor Snape asked.

"I seem to have run out of lacewing flies, sir," he replied. "Could I take some from the student stock?"

"You hardly need to ask," the professor told him, raising an eyebrow.

I watched Malfoy cross to the cabinet where extra student materials were kept and pull the door open. He rummaged inside for a few moments before ducking back out again.

"Sir, I don't see any lacewing flies in here." There was a curious smile tugging at his mouth as he uttered the words, but it was gone by the time Snape turned to face him.

"How can that be?" He strode over to the cabinet himself, peered inside, and frowned. He then straightened up and said, "It appears that _someone_," here, his eyes fell upon Harry, "has taken the _entire _extra stock of lacewing flies."

I couldn't help but smirk a little. I thought I might have an idea who had swiped the flies, and it wasn't Harry. I wasn't sure why Malfoy had done it, though, until he walked haughtily over to the Gryffindor side of the dungeon and said loudly, "Oi, Granger, give me some of your flies, would you?"

I stared at him, and he gave me a quick wink in return. It appeared this was some sort of entertainment for him.

I played along with his strange game, rolling my eyes and sighing. "Fine," I spat at last. "Take it." I shoved my box and scoop toward him, noticing as I did so that Harry and Ron seemed to approve.

He grabbed the box without saying anything and proceeded to measure out the necessary amount at a snail's pace.

I tapped my foot impatiently, growing annoyed. I wasn't even pretending now. I hadn't had a chance to measure out my own share of the flies, so I was going to be behind, and I _hated _being behind. And if I was unable to finish the potion…I couldn't even think about that.

"Could you hurry up, please?" I asked politely.

"No," he sneered.

"Well, you're not the only person who needs them," I hissed, losing my patience.

Ron looked over to see what the problem was.

"Malfoy's taking forever with the flies," I informed him angrily, and watched as his ears slowly began to redden.

"Give those back, Malfoy," he said in a warning tone.

"And what will happen to me if I don't?" Malfoy challenged.

"You'll-you'll be sorry, that's what!" Ron replied.

I wanted to roll my eyes because Ron really wasn't being very intimidating. I almost couldn't blame Malfoy for not listening to him, and yet-

"Give them here," I snapped, holding out my hand.

"I don't think so." He moved the box onto another desk, further away from me.

I lunged for it, but miscalculated the distance I would need to cover, and ended up knocking over the box of flies onto the floor. I swore rather loudly, drawing the eyes of Gryffindors and Slytherins alike, although the Gryffindors looked shocked while the Slytherins tended towards amused.

"Miss Granger," Snape said quietly, "I would appreciate it if you kept those words to a minimum in my class."

"I'm sorry, Professor," I said quickly, "but it wasn't my-"

"I don't care whose fault it was," he interrupted. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir," I said politely. Once his back was turned, I shot Malfoy a dirty look. "Thanks a lot," I muttered, loudly enough that he could hear me.

"My pleasure," he returned with a smile.

A wave of my wand restored the box of flies, but it couldn't make up for the time that I had lost. I feverishly began to throw ingredients together, glancing back at the instructions now and then. A short while later, however, the concoction in my cauldron turned green and began to foam. I watched it nervously, wondering why it wasn't the expected deep blue that the instructions told me it would be. Harry was peering over at my station, no doubt trying to figure out why our potions looked so dissimilar. Taking a deep breath, I reread the instructions once again. I began to feel sick when I realized that I had neglected to add another batch of lacewing flies. What was I going to do?

I raised my hand slowly, shakily.

"Yes, Miss Granger?" Snape asked, sounding bored.

"Please, sir, I've just realized-well, I forgot to add more lacewing flies, you see." My voice was barely above a whisper.

"Well, I suppose that will affect your standings in this class, Miss Granger," he replied slowly, so that I had no need to guess what he was getting at.

I sank my head into my hands. I was going to fail the lesson. He was going to give me a big, fat zero. That would certainly take me down a notch. And what were Harry and Ron going to think? I wasn't just disappointing myself, I was disappointing them. They expected me to lead the class, and now stupid Malfoy was probably going to take my spot. Perhaps that was the reason he had taken all the lacewing flies from the student supply cabinet, to mess me up and steal my glory. It was just like him. Just like a sneaky Slytherin, actually, and it seemed he was no better. Why, oh _why,_ had I ever thought he was better than the rest of them?

I spent the remainder of the period fuming, putting away my supplies and cleaning my cauldron of my failed potion. When the bell rang, I stalked out of the dungeon. Harry and Ron hurried after me, and Malfoy followed close behind. I shook Harry and Ron off pretty quickly, telling them I didn't feel well and wasn't up for eating lunch. Although they looked like they wanted to interrogate me about my potion-making fiasco, they both nodded and headed to the Great Hall. Malfoy, however, was harder to get rid of, since I was in no mood to talk to him after his sabotage.

He continued to follow me up to the second floor, and then the third. I had been planning on going to the Room of Requirement yet again, but I couldn't with_ him_ there. Finally, I whirled around and asked, "Excuse me, is there a problem?"

He grinned. "Not at all. Can't a fellow wander the halls during lunch hour?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Of course, but is there some reason why this particular fellow is tracing my footsteps?"

"Perhaps he is merely curious as to why you keep hiding yourself from the world," he replied, his tone serious.

"Hiding myself from the world?" I repeated incredulously. "Whatever do you mean by that?"

He was spared from replying by my arm on his wrist. I pulled him into an empty classroom, away from the group of Slytherins I had seen coming towards us. I closed the door behind us, and, as I did so, I remembered the reason why I had decided to confront him in the first place.

"Malfoy," I began.

"You can call me Draco, you know," he told me.

"Good to know, but you're Malfoy for now, because there is something I would like to straighten out here," I said.

"Go ahead," he smirked. "Straighten away."

"Fine," I replied. "First of all, stop following me or I'll have Ron and Harry sort you out. That goes for anywhere in the castle, okay?"

He looked like he might start laughing any second. "Okay."

"Second, don't ever try and do _anything_ like what you pulled today ever again. My whole potion was _ruined _because of you!"

"Actually, all I did was-"

"I'm not finished," I said through clenched teeth. "If we're going to talk outside of class, we will act exactly as we would in class. You'll be rude to me, I'll be rude to you."

"Why?" He genuinely looked confused.

"Because!" I exploded.

"Uh, last time I checked, that was _not _a good reason to do anything," he said mockingly.

"Because I'm sick of playing your games," I whispered, pressing my hands over my eyes. "I just…this is not...how things were. And I-I want things to go back to the way they were."

I hated that he was seeing me in such a vulnerable state. I could only think of what he would do now that I was so exposed.

"Fine," was all he said.

"What?" I blinked at him.

"Fine," he said again. "You want to go back, fine. That can be arranged." There was a hard note in his voice now, and I felt relieved. It seemed he was becoming his old, nasty self again.

"Great," I said, and I meant it. "Uh, thanks, I guess."

"No problem." He smiled coldly, then turned away. "See you around, Granger. Or not." And with that, he pulled open the door and walked out. I watched him go, feeling an odd mixture of happiness and regret.

"Hermione, you made it! How're you feeling?" Ron asked as soon as I took a seat next to him at lunch.

I smiled weakly. "Better, thank you."

"Good, because I need to talk to you," Ginny said, butting into the conversation from her seat across the table.

"Oh, well, if _Ginny_ needs to talk to you…" I heard Ron grumble.

I laughed. "I'll be able to talk to you next period, Ron."

"I'll hold you to that," he joked.

I turned to Ginny. "What did you want to talk about?" Now that I was really paying attention to her, I noticed that her eyes were puffy and that Dean was not occupying his usual seat next to her. "Ginny, are you alright? Where's Dean?"

"I'm not alright," she sniffed, "and Dean's, well, gone. We broke up."

"Well, good riddance to him," I said honestly.

She looked shocked. "_Hermione!"_

"Ginny, he treated you badly and you know it. Don't pretend that this doesn't make you feel freer than you've felt in months. He was always tracking your every move, didn't you get tired of his jealousy?"

I thought about how Malfoy had followed me, both that very day and quite probably over the weekend. It hadn't felt great to know that he was following me-it was more weird than anything else- and yet part of me, I realized, felt flattered that he took the time to do so. This was not, however, the time to be figuring this out. I was supposed to be giving Gin a pep-talk about how she was better off without her ex.

"I suppose so," Ginny said reluctantly. "But, I mean, I really liked the guy, you know?"

"Ginny," I said patiently, "if it's meant to work out, you two will get back together, but if not, I'm sure you'll find another great guy and forget all about Dean Thomas."

That's what I needed to do. Find another guy and forget about Draco Malfoy. Not because I felt anything for him, but because I couldn't stop thinking about him. I hated passing up a mystery, but this was one mystery I was sick of trying to untangle.

"You're right," Ginny nodded. "I'll find someone else. Someone nicer, someone better…someone my brother actually approves of!" she added with a giggle.

I nodded. "Exactly."

"Oh, speaking of my brother, I see you two are talking again," Ginny said happily.

"Yeah, we are," I said, glancing over at Ron with a small smile. He smiled back.

"Well, I'm glad, I think he missed you a lot more than he's letting on," Ginny confided.

"Hey!" Ron said indignantly. "I don't tell you these things so you can go and blabber them to everyone."

I giggled. "Don't worry, Ron, she's never spilled _too _much." I remembered, though, the remark she had made last week about me not wanting to know where Ron would be without me. What exactly had she meant by that? Was she saying that because of something Ron had told her, or was that just what she thought?

I shook my head so I could focus on Ginny once more, but she had already moved on from our conversation and struck up one with Harry. This arrangement left me to talk to Ron, but his attention was on something else.

"Hermione, why is Malfoy staring over here?" he said abruptly.

I directed my gaze towards the Slytherin table. The blond-haired boy was indeed looking our way.

I sighed. "I don't know why, but you don't need to worry about him. He won't be making any trips over here anymore, unless it's to harass us."

"Really?" Ron looked pretty happy considering what I was telling him. "I mean, I hate it when he makes his rude remarks, but it'll be nice to see him acting like his usual self."

"His usual self when he's around us, you mean," I almost added, but I couldn't. I had seen a different side of him, but I wasn't about to reveal that to Ron.

I peered over at Malfoy once again. He had stopped staring at us, and now had his arm draped around Pansy Parkinson. I smiled, sadly. With their sneakiness and hidden motives, the two of them really _were _perfect for each other. I had always thought so, and now, it was a comfort to know I had been right all along.

**CatB: Hope you enjoyed! PLEASE review! **

**Waiting to get a decent number of reviews before updating again, so it's in your best interest to click that little button down there and tell me what you think!  
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